Dear Friends,

We’re reaching out to let you know that we are kicking off a campaign for our Dad, Jon Banks, and we need your help!

You may have heard that our Dad went to the hospital on the 9th of June and has not been able to return home up to now. Over the last 8 months his Doctor noted that he lost his appetite and was losing weight. His ability to walk was deteriorating and he went from a cane to a walker. The frightening part was that in the six weeks prior to him being admitted to the Hospital his condition deteriorated so rapidly that it then culminated in him not even being able to stand up. Also during this six weeks period he fell several times. It became more and more difficult to assist him at home and in a frantic call to his Primary Doctor, we were advised to take him to Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Fl.

Jon was admitted on the 9th of June, to try to figure out why his legs were not working. There they regulated a few chronic issues, diagnosed his leg issue as “leg weakness” and released him to a Skilled Nursing Facility/Rehab on the 14th June for Physical Therapy, in the hope of getting his legs stronger. He was at this Skilled Nursing Facility until the 23rd June when we had to rush him back to Cleveland Clinic with multiple issues, which could have been recognized, treated and prevented at the Rehab, but that did not happen. When he arrived at Cleveland Clinic he was in critical condition. He was retaining urine which was damaging the kidneys, had a UTI and his potassium level was through the roof. Cleveland Clinic took all the necessary steps to alleviate all the critical issues and Jon was stabilized. In addition to all of this, Cleveland Clinic was now more concerned about the condition with his legs and did a barrage of tests, including an MRI and Lumbar Puncture, with the hope of identifying what was causing Jon to lose the ability to stand and walk. After being at Cleveland Clinic for almost two weeks, the Doctors were baffled and we still had no diagnosis for Jon’s ailment. He was discharged to a new/different Skilled Nursing Facility/Rehab in Ft. Lauderdale on the 6th July for Physical Therapy and they scheduled an EMG for a follow up appointment at a later date.

On the early morning of August 5th while in the second Skilled Nursing Facility/Rehab, Jon determined that something was not right and called the Nurse. His BP was 60/45 and he was beginning to feel a little numbness in the tips of his fingers on his left hand. The Skilled Nursing Facility called 911 and sent him to Holy Cross Hospital which was right across the street. They found that he had a severe UTI, which could have been causing the BP to drop. We knew that something was wrong and had been alerting the Nurse for at least a week and nothing was done. We think, again, that he was not being cleaned by the staff in the appropriate way. The UTI was so severe that although the culture has now been listed as “clear” Holy Cross Hospital is taking no chances and has now starting him on two additional antibiotics for an additional five days.

Holy Cross Hospital has also been trying to find the reason for Jon’s loss of the use of his legs and has repeated upper and lower MRIs of the spine that Cleveland Clinic did before. They have also now completed an EMG along with many other blood tests etc., and still are not able come to a clear diagnosis. At first they thought that it could have been CIDP, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy, but that has was ruled out after the completion of the EMG. They are referring to him now as an “anomaly” but think it could be in the realm of ALS. The Physicians were planning to release him to the IRU (Physical Therapy Department) up on the 6th floor of the hospital.

Holy Cross Hospital has started him on a three day course of steroids in the hope that this might be beneficial. This particular steroid, methylprednisolone is used to treat a number of different conditions, such as inflammation (swelling), severe allergies, adrenal problems, arthritis, asthma, blood or bone marrow problems, eye or vision problems, lupus, skin conditions, kidney problems, ulcerative colitis, and flare-ups of multiple sclerosis. They are hoping that this will be of some benefit to him as some of the symptoms he has fall in the realm of some of the listed conditions.

Jon will be discharged to the Holy Cross IRU (inpatient rehab unit) on the 6th floor of this Hospital any day now, where they hope to train him to manage his disabilities and increase the strength of muscles in his arms and torso. From there, we hope to have him home so that Mom can take care of him. She has been by his bedside 12 – 13 hours, every single day since this all began on the 9th of June and had to stop working to be able to take care of him.

We have started this GoFundMe page with the hope that we might be able to get some help for our Dad. Having been in Cleveland Clinic for 20 days, Holy Cross Hospital for 13 days, the first rehab facility for 9 days, the second rehab facility for 30 days (a total of 72 days so far) and now going to the Holy Cross IRU for an unknown amount of days, the co-pays will be daunting. We are asking for your help and would appreciate whatever you can contribute, because, no matter how small a contribution, it will all count. It is becoming clearer each day that Jon’s care will be long-term, incurring unforeseen bills along the way.

We thank you so much for caring.

Samantha, Craig-Anthony & Kevin.